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I was aiming upward, but didn't get high enough to get the broken branch that is caught in another branch and has been 'hanging' there since the tornado...I think these perfect holes are the work of a woodpecker:

Another patch of bermuda grass...slowly slowly it grows....the neighbors yard is quite clean...thanks to me and the backed up sewer is at the side of the garage and runs toward the white crepe myrtle which has been in FULL bloom for a solid three months since I cut the wall of vines that were choking it to death....

AND...in the front yard at the end of the porch is my patch of St Augustine that is sending runners out to the middle of the yard...ever...so...slowly....In the jungle and along the edges of our 'new territory' are buried/half buried paving stones, rocks, and ceramic tile and rusted 'things'...as I uncover them, I am slowly getting practice at making a walk way...or something...

and I have a lovely tan on my face and arms and left leg...the leg with the blood clot has it's own shade.... I have two litre bottles of water that I empty and sweat out and I have my Alavert and my inhalers....I'm coping....

Logged

"I'm not done yet"....Glen Campbell

"I may not be exactly where I want to be, but I sure as Hell am not where I was" Wynnona Judd

Diagnosed/HIV1993AZTNorvir1994-2001Crixivan/Epivir/ZeritNo Meds for 7 Years

I did get my disablility. ...and my back pay. ..just as I had to put Katie in a nursing home. She had been in the hospital with cellulitis and septus(sp?) and was just plain delirious and not well....at all.

She is doing much better now, though she is still there, but we have a physical therapist working with her as she lost all strength in her legs and to come home she has to be able to transfer to her chair.

I haven't seen her this week as there is a Flu epidemic running rampant through the nursing home and all family members have been strongly advised to stay home.

We can communicate though through Facebook/email/internet as Mom bought her a laptop. So she is not totally cut off from the world.

Of course, when she went to the nursing home, her SSI followed, so I have been paying the rent, all utilities, and her credit card bills...which... are substantial...

.especially for one who has been confined to the house. (her sons enter into that storyline, which just makes me sick every time I think on it.)

Speaking of my nephews, Daniel is still here, doing the odd job here and there to keep himself in cigarettes as I refuse to buy or pay for them. (and I took Katie's Discover card from him after I discovered he had it...and was using it..)

His diligent waiting around for his inheritance is finally coming to fruition and I fully expect him to be out of the house by Christmas.

...all that glitters...

Aunt Mary (who we called Aunt Dude) died and has left her estate to the boys. Robert was named the executor of the estate.

Well, he executed his sanity right out the door. After impatiently waiting for their fair share, Dewayne and Daniel found out that he had bought a 16 acre estate in Wise County (between here and Dallas) and has been living the life of Riley.

Dewayne got a lawyer and they sued their brother, and had their 'day in court' in their pursuit of life, liberty, and Financial Freedom..

Robert and his lawyer want to have a meeting to 'make things right'...but ...to their way of thinking..'right' being Daniel and Dewayne going home with their share of the 'Dude Estate'....which, they have to have an investigation to find just how much it was....

It seems that Robert ..*.lied*... and told them it was @500 thousand, well...according to the attorneys...it was like triple that....so...I am really shocked at all this as I would have NEVER thought of him as doing anything like this...

Katie is beside herself and I had to interject my influence and brought some sanity to the twins thinking on it so Robert won't be charged with a felony and sent to prison....(he IS their older brother, and they would have to have had that on them forever)

I lamblasted Daniel for his behavior and compared him to his father who did nothing with his life but wait around for rich relatives to die so he could have the fruits of their labors....that they shouldn't be acting this way over money they didn't do any thing to earn other than the fact that they were related to the deceased.

I must have got through to him as he has been doing more odd jobs....

(hopefully Daniel won't get a wad of money, and in his elation of getting his hard unearned money have his brain fall out and then while doing his victory dance he steps on it..)

After my say... I have left them to it....I am really ashamed of them....

but... life goes on...I am now on a new adventure...

MEDICARE...Parts A & B...

I have Humana...and I just moved all my prescriptions over to one pharmacy. I did that yesterday right after getting a flu shot and having my blood drawn (which, my blood stopped flowing in the middle of it and I now have a knot on my hand and it hurts down to my wrist) ...

Leaving the pharmacy, I was maneuvering the parking garage when I reached down for the 'stamped' parking ticket and couldn't find it. I pulled into an empty spot and went through all the paper work in my med bag and under the seats, and in the cracks of the seats and in my pockets and then walked the garage back to my original parking...

which now had another car with a mother retrieving her baby from the car seat in the back and I was crouching looking under the car and then reassuring her that I wasn't some kind of creep and that I was only looking for a lost ticket...

Finally I walked to the booth with the large prominently displayed sign in the window...

"LOST OR NO TICKETS...$5.00.....NO EXCEPTIONS"

I threw myself on her mercy and she held up a ticket with the words...'lost ticket'...someone had found it and turned it in....

I was exhausted, so I went home and went to sleep for 3 hours...

Logged

"I'm not done yet"....Glen Campbell

"I may not be exactly where I want to be, but I sure as Hell am not where I was" Wynnona Judd

Diagnosed/HIV1993AZTNorvir1994-2001Crixivan/Epivir/ZeritNo Meds for 7 Years

It seems that the older I get, the more I find out that I don't know...

In my quest to clear that 'jungle'..I have just about destroyed worn out every lawn tool I own....

*Chain saw...the chain came off and I can't get it back on

*Three weed eaters...

*Four hedge clippers...two are electric..

*two lawn mowers which, according to the internet..if I take the blade off and sharpen it, and then 'balance' it ...it won't vibrate so hard that my hands and arms are tingling....which.. I won't ever mention 'that' to my doctor again as she had a fit...

.apparently when you have neuropathy you're not supposed to 'vibrate' yourself...

So I had never heard of a lawn mower blade balancer and when I looked it up and saw it's picture...I realized that I had never seen one either...not in all my 58 years have I ever seen one of these in any garage or used by anyone that I've ever known....

So, I'm going to go find one...(they range in price from $5.00 (it sits on the floor like a pile of metal poop) - or one that hangs on the wall for $200.00 ?!!? Really ?? wtheck?

I'm going to go for the 5 dollar one.

Logged

"I'm not done yet"....Glen Campbell

"I may not be exactly where I want to be, but I sure as Hell am not where I was" Wynnona Judd

Diagnosed/HIV1993AZTNorvir1994-2001Crixivan/Epivir/ZeritNo Meds for 7 Years

Far be it for me to criticize....but1. Whats that strapping young man with no job doing? He should help with the lawn.2. Where is the local handyman who fixes this sort of thing......? I suppose he now works for walmart or something.In any case dont hurt yourself being all butch and stuff.

Far be it for me to criticize....but1. Whats that strapping young man with no job doing? He should help with the lawn.2. Where is the local handyman who fixes this sort of thing......? I suppose he now works for walmart or something.In any case dont hurt yourself being all butch and stuff.

re: 1. He's playing XBox 360 while waiting for his inheritance....he has absolutely NO desire to do anything else...If I do have a tirade, he does a pitiful half-ass jpb that I have to go behind him and redo...

2. I can't find a handyman that I trust...I see trucks driving around or in parking lots with signs on them advertising their specialties....but when I see the drivers, I hesitate as they don't appear to be as qualified as their advert...

Logged

"I'm not done yet"....Glen Campbell

"I may not be exactly where I want to be, but I sure as Hell am not where I was" Wynnona Judd

Diagnosed/HIV1993AZTNorvir1994-2001Crixivan/Epivir/ZeritNo Meds for 7 Years

Andy, do you fertilize? ...cause, we could just run them over with the mower so the lawn has a nice warm blanikie for the winter and then fertilizer in the spring....

...sound good? It's worked for me for years....I'm just not a raker...

Guess what?

Can't guess? ok, I'll tell you...

I was shopping for a bicycle so I could have something for exercise during the winter months and Daniel came home with a Total Gym 1500 that one of his buddies gave him....

I have it set up and after reading the instructions...I hopefully will lose my next 30lbs before Christmas...maybe even Thanksgiving...

I need to go to that side of the closet with clothes that haven't seen daylight in years and they probably need to either go to the cleaners or I am going to have to re-introduce myself to the ironing board and my new, Oreck steam iron that is still in the box that I got for free with my Oreck vacumn...

I even still have cans of spray starch on the laundry room shelves...I wonder if they expire?

edited because I don't use spell check until after I hit post

« Last Edit: October 23, 2011, 01:34:43 PM by rondrond »

Logged

"I'm not done yet"....Glen Campbell

"I may not be exactly where I want to be, but I sure as Hell am not where I was" Wynnona Judd

Diagnosed/HIV1993AZTNorvir1994-2001Crixivan/Epivir/ZeritNo Meds for 7 Years

Dont get me wrong...I think you should take good care of yourself...that first.However, in my case I dont want to know about no allergies, cause I already have enough. The hay fever and pllen allergies are the worst. I also have some dust allergies, etc.When our cat started sneezing, and I thought "Oh my god he has allergies"...we took him to the vet and were told it'd cost 750.00 dollars to test him. At that pont, I decided he and I could just sneeze along together. So, 10 years later, he's still sneezing. And so am I.

Dont get me wrong...I think you should take good care of yourself...that first.However, in my case I dont want to know about no allergies, cause I already have enough. The hay fever and pllen allergies are the worst. I also have some dust allergies, etc.When our cat started sneezing, and I thought "Oh my god he has allergies"...we took him to the vet and were told it'd cost 750.00 dollars to test him. At that pont, I decided he and I could just sneeze along together. So, 10 years later, he's still sneezing. And so am I.

I have wondered if I hadn't had the blood clot in 2007 if I would be alive today as I hadn't been to a doctor in over ten years before that and probably wouldn't have as I just 'manned up' and rode out any fevers or coughs before...

Logged

"I'm not done yet"....Glen Campbell

"I may not be exactly where I want to be, but I sure as Hell am not where I was" Wynnona Judd

Diagnosed/HIV1993AZTNorvir1994-2001Crixivan/Epivir/ZeritNo Meds for 7 Years

I have wondered if I hadn't had the blood clot in 2007 if I would be alive today as I hadn't been to a doctor in over ten years before that and probably wouldn't have as I just 'manned up' and rode out any fevers or coughs before...

Its a possibly,alongside many other not quite so jolly, Get back on the gym thing my friend and look forward.

Logged

"If we can find the money to kill people, we can find the money to help people ." Tony Benn

Considering I celebrated Thanksgiving by thankfully eating anything I didn't have to cook...I gained 6 lbs., but then lost 3...so I'm still on track.

I'm getting confused with this Medicare and the Extra Help...I haven't had to pay anything at the pharmacy, nor for labs. They weren't asking for a copay at the Dr visits, but then I got a bill, which, was over the Holiday, so I couldn't get through to anybody.

Then, on Monday, I got a statement showing Medicare deductions and now I don't owe anything again.??

I guess dragging my feet came in handy this go round.

Logged

"I'm not done yet"....Glen Campbell

"I may not be exactly where I want to be, but I sure as Hell am not where I was" Wynnona Judd

Diagnosed/HIV1993AZTNorvir1994-2001Crixivan/Epivir/ZeritNo Meds for 7 Years

I am running a dialog in my mind where I am talking myself out of going to this biopsy on the 19th....the wonder steroid antibiotic they gave me has done its job and after 6 months, the wound has healed....therefore..

I must be cured.

I have almost got out the tree and pulled out the lights..I am the only house on the street in darkness..but just the thought of the basement, and it has gotten so cold lately...I must have been a bear in a past life as I just feel like hibernating....

I have the Coumadin Clinic in the AM and don't even want to go to that...I'm not even taking Coumadin anymore, as Medicare won't pay for it, so I am now taking Warfarin....

"it's the same thing"

"then why does it have a different name and price?"

They also wont' pay for Lyrica, so went through that withdrawal so I could go back to Gabapentin...

Logged

"I'm not done yet"....Glen Campbell

"I may not be exactly where I want to be, but I sure as Hell am not where I was" Wynnona Judd

Diagnosed/HIV1993AZTNorvir1994-2001Crixivan/Epivir/ZeritNo Meds for 7 Years

I hear you Ron. Kurt and I are talking about going to Chinatown for Christmas dinner. He has a hernia and doesnt want to cook.But,.....I think we'll have a tree, because if we dont its an admission of defeat.

But,.....I think we'll have a tree, because if we dont its an admission of defeat.

exactly! I almost didn't put up a tree the year after Randy died. But when a friend heard about that, she brought over a live one the week before Christmas. Although my heart wasn't in it, I threw a couple strands of white lights on it and called it "Christmas" because I know Randy wouldn't have wanted to have ruined my holiday.

Ever since, no matter what, I've figured I can at least put up a little tree to remember the season and participate in the good vibes of the holiday. To not do so seems like it would let the badness, the darkness, the despair win - and I'm not having any of that.

I hope you guys can get a bit of the Christmas spirit and enjoy the holidays with a tree and some twinkly lights.

Logged

leatherman (aka mIkIE)

All the stars are flashing high above the seaand the party is on fire around you and meWe're gonna burn this disco down before the morning comes- Pet Shop Boys chart from 1992-2015Isentress/Prezcobix

I had a HORRIBLE Friday.../I was to go to the Coumadin Clinic, so was in the shower...

I forgot to turn on the fan so the humidity was tremendous,...I had an asthma attack, winding up in pulling the shower curtain down, which, I had to put back up twice during my shower as the walls were now too slick as there was water everywhere...

..my blood pressure went tot he roof, I became very anxious, and started to sweat,.. and sweat..and sweat...I HATE it when I can't stop sweating...

I had to go outside in 38 degree weather and sit on the porch just to get dry...

Afterwards I got a haircut as I had been hacking on it for three weeks, and it wasn't working anymore..

I called upon the little known Christmas Genie....

..she didn't appear

So, I took a hydrocodone (from a carefully hoarded supply for just such emergencies) hauled outthe tree to the living room...

Got my 'lil red dolly and hauled out the decoration boxes from the basement...and just outdid myself IMHO

Still have to do the outside, but that is easy peasy compared to the tree...

Logged

"I'm not done yet"....Glen Campbell

"I may not be exactly where I want to be, but I sure as Hell am not where I was" Wynnona Judd

Diagnosed/HIV1993AZTNorvir1994-2001Crixivan/Epivir/ZeritNo Meds for 7 Years

That's a great looking tree Ron . I wont be putting one up . I live alone and cant really justify the expense , I spend more time in my comfy bedroom than the living room so it seems like a lot of work , not to mention I would have to buy the decorations too since I left them all in California when I moved back here .

That's a great looking tree Ron . I wont be putting one up . I live alone and cant really justify the expense

Don't feel bad Jeff, I live with my BF, and in the last 18yrs. we've NEVER put up any, we aren't as sophisticated as most of you queers, and we really don't want the added expense w/ the the Gas & Electric bill @ the end of the month, we bob & I do is cook, eat, and get DRUNK

Logged

"it's so nice to be insane, cause no-one ask you to explain" Helen Reddy cc 1974

Well, if NOT having a tree is part of your routine...then there is no defeat. But Kurt, when we first got together, insisted that we put up a Christmas tree. I had just lost my partner, Paul, and had no interest in Christmas anything....especially a tree. But Kurt, being the pushy bottom boy that he is, prevailed. Since then we have had a tree every year that we've been together. This will be 17. The year Kurt had his knee replacement and was so sore, he didnt have the energy for putting up a tree, so he said, "Lets skip it this year". I said "That would be admitting defeat, so we ARE going to have a tree".That's the story behind having a tree.Yesterday we went to Homo Depo and bought a 29.95 6ft spruce. Its in the living room now, waiting its decorations. Kurt has an Eagles game to watch this afternoon, but maybe this evening we'll do some decorating. He has the ornaments from when he was a kid. Lots of 1950's memories for him.

I'm way to Ghetto and five and dime for most of you queers, most of you probably wouldn't even like me much, if you were to meet me in person, and I'd only like you, if ya'll were nice, if you weren't, then NO, I wouldn't

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"it's so nice to be insane, cause no-one ask you to explain" Helen Reddy cc 1974

I am sure that Dickens had a gas Christmas tree and Dennis you must realize the sophistication involved in five and dime. Sometimes there is a tree , sometimes not. I do have a reputation for buying the raggidy tree , there is something about the tree ignored , because off some fault alone at the end off the selling day day , all the perfect ones bought , its very sad.

Also its cheaper and if the hand off gay has blessed you with imagination it can be transformed.

So my LTS friends buy the cheap raggidy tree and make it beautiful.

Michael/theyer

Logged

"If we can find the money to kill people, we can find the money to help people ." Tony Benn

Joel honey, bob & I don't have that type of queer relationship, for us there's no Top or Bottom, were both the same age, make the same amount , and have the same views, the only real difference is, were a discordant couple, if we wanna do a Top we do, if we wanna do a bottom we do, nothing is set-in-stone with us, ain't nothing effeminate or pretentious about us, were not those kinda queers

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"it's so nice to be insane, cause no-one ask you to explain" Helen Reddy cc 1974

@Ron, that's an awesome tree! It puts to shame the little 2.5ft thing I set up here at mom's.

@Joel, Randy and I had the tradition of going out Thanksgiving night, getting drunk as a skunk then coming home to put up the tree. One year we didn't go out, and we thought the tree looked like sh*t, so we went out drinking the next night, came home, undecorated and re-decorated, and it looked beautiful for another year. LOL

Although I do find putting on some Christmas tunes and putting up the tree all by myself to be a rather lonely tradition now, just like WAD, it makes me feel a little closer to my guys because it gives me a moment to really think about them. Although I don't get drunk anymore, and I don't put any Star Trek ornaments up, I think about Randy and Jim while I decorate and all the wonderful Christmas times I was blessed to be so in love. Although teh AIDS has taken a lot away from me, it sure can't take away my happy memories .....

.... well unless of course AIDS brings me dementia one day ; but then I guess I won't know that I can't remember those great Christmas memories, so that'll be alright too. ROFLMAO

I've enjoyed hearing everyone's Christmas tree stories/traditions and reasons for having or not having one. Thanks for sharing, y'all. Merry Christmas to you y'all since it sure doesn't matter whether you have a tree or not.

Logged

leatherman (aka mIkIE)

All the stars are flashing high above the seaand the party is on fire around you and meWe're gonna burn this disco down before the morning comes- Pet Shop Boys chart from 1992-2015Isentress/Prezcobix

Joel, that is so funny...."pushy bottom boy".....every body needs a good push now and then....

If I hadn't spent 69.99 (on sale) at Garden Ridge 12 years ago, I wouldn't have this tree either....one advantage of artificial....

I remember one year when the twins were 14 and I was short of monies from the unexpected pleasure of having two boys under my wing...(or my boa)....

..the upstairs neighbors were having a row and yelling divorce and ...whoosh, he threw their tree ornaments and all in the dumpster.

I at least waited for sunset before I retrieved it....unforutnately, it was flocked and I mean WAS...it didn'ttake too kindly to being chinked in the trash, but I shook it off enough so that it looked lightly dusted...

We redecorated it and it was beautiful and well, the price was right...."Merry Christmas and a Happy Divorce"...

I had it made, like Kurt must have as Larry (my love for ten years and who still haunts my memories as though it was sometimes only yesterday) worshiped me and I pretty much got what I wanted when I wanted it...But I made it worth his while....

One year I wasn't so lucky...the year I bought a 9ft Noble Fir...It was HUGE and beautiful and flocked and expensive ..not what Larry had meant when he said go get what I wanted and he would pay for half.....

He walked out in a fit when I told him 45 dollars...and he started to give me 20 and I said, no, your half is 45, the tree was 90 dollars...what a night that was.....

« Last Edit: December 12, 2011, 01:24:32 PM by rondrond »

Logged

"I'm not done yet"....Glen Campbell

"I may not be exactly where I want to be, but I sure as Hell am not where I was" Wynnona Judd

Diagnosed/HIV1993AZTNorvir1994-2001Crixivan/Epivir/ZeritNo Meds for 7 Years

I did put up some outdoor lights, but not as many as last year. I couldn't get the lights off the eaves of the house until March because of all the damn snow and ice last winter.

I will now spend my time baking biscochitos, making halupki and posole', and ignoring the rest of the hubbub.

HUGS,

Mark

Mark I wished I lived closer to you, sounds like you need some help around and with your place, it's tough to live alone especially when you don't have the time to do anything, I'd really enjoy the company ya know, there isn't a lot of older gay men here in ABQ, and both Bob & I really miss that...

Logged

"it's so nice to be insane, cause no-one ask you to explain" Helen Reddy cc 1974

Well, I have the 4-foot one, a 6-foot one my sister gave me (she bought a new one and thought mine was too small), a 5-foot one that came with lights attached - which burned for one season and now won't light, and a vintage 1960's silver aluminum tree, which is actually my favorite.

I am weeding out the chaff, though. Anyone need a half-dozen strings of C-9 lights?

Mark I wished I lived closer to you, sounds like you need some help around and with your place, it's tough to live alone especially when you don't have the time to do anything, I'd really enjoy the company ya know, there isn't a lot of older gay men here in ABQ, and both Bob & I really miss that...

I know what you mean Dennis. It would be nice to live closer.

Perhaps when I come down your way one of these days we can barbecue or something.